Happy Birthday, Wendy!

Today is my friend Wendy's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WENDY!!!!

You can click here to find her on the Twitter!


I know how you love this song!  ENJOY!!

You're welcome.

She's Back, She's Bad

I am going to assume that you all have been missing me terribly.   My ego just couldn't stand it if that assumption were wrong, so if you haven't even noticed that I haven't been blogging, don't tell me.  Your silence in the comment box will let it be known....

Anyhow, before Halloween I was helping to prepare a Halloween shindig at Church.  Yes.  Fun was had by many.   I even had a TWSS moment with some Church people over Jello Jigglers.

After Halloween I took a few days to be depressed over mom's passing.   November 2 is a special day for us where we remember our beloved dead... Unfortunately, mom's passing is still fresh and hurts to contemplate.

Friday and Saturday I was at a Catechist Conference (Conference for Catholic "Sunday School" teachers). It was fabulous.  I went to a two day workshop about Scripture.  I now have a handy dandy outline of the history of the Old Testament to aide me during my Scripture reading, as well as some other cool references.

Sunday after Church I went to see my cousin Katy star in a dance performance.  Okay.  She was in the ensemble, but to me, she was the star.  When she was on stage, who could look at anyone else, she is so graceful.   And THAT is the reason she was dancing in the back row!  (Seriously!)

Monday was Bob's birthday.   We went to the Art Institute of Chicago.   We had a lot of fun.  I think the last time we went there together, we were still dating, so this was fun.

What did I get him?  Come on, what more could he want?



How about you?  Have I missed anything spectacular in your life?  Let me know if congratulations are in order!

Happy Katdishmas!

Today is my friend katdish's birthday. So, without her permission, I am linking up an old blog post of hers where she shares information about herself.

Here is a link to her current blog.

Love you lots, Kathy!

Happy Birthday, Candy!

Today is my friend Candy's birthday.

I hope it is a sweet, happy and blessed one!

Happy Birthday Annie! And Many Blessings!

Today is my friend Annie's birthday! Why any Hungarian chooses Cinco de Mayo to be born is beyond me... ;-O

I love Annie, and she has a few blogs, but if you REALLY want to wish her a happy birthday, and trust me, you do, then you should contact her at

@buzzbyannies on the twitter

Happy Birthday, Annie, love you!

Happy Birthday, Peter Pollock

Today is the birthday, of my friend, Peter Pollock. Peter is a nice man, with a lovely wife and sweet kids. He is also a pastor who has made it his mission to help Christians reach out in action, and not just words. Seriously, his life and outreach remind me of my favorite St. Francis of Assisi quote: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
I'd like to encourage you to go to his blog and wish him a happy birthday!



Oh LOOK! The little aliens came back!!

Happy Birthday, Jason

Today is the birthday of a bloggy / twitter friend, Jason. His blog is Connecting to Impact, and on it he shares both serious and humorous things. Often he shares serious thoughts with a dose of humor.

Here is a post I know that is dear to him, about his desire to help the people of Haiti at this time.


Go wish him a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

I'd like to wish my friend Sarah a Happy Birthday.




Sarah is trying to raise money to go on a mission trip to Africa. Check out her site to read about it and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Love you, Sarah!

Happy Thanksgiving

You all know that I haven't been posting lately because I was busy preparing for my mom's birthday, and Thanksgiving. I meant to write a post dedicated to my mom on her birthday, but things kind of got away from me. I thought maybe it would be appropriate to share with you things my mom taught me, that I am grateful for...

Mom taught me...

1) That being angry at someone hurts me more than them. Forgiving heals me. She is the most forgiving person I know.
2) That it IS my responsibility to care for those who are weaker. She used to visit and shop for the elderly on our block. No special neighborhood outreach program. No big ceremony for her celebrating her years of volunteerism at the end. Just the knowledge that she was there for people who needed her.
3) I can do what I set my mind to. Nobody ever cheered me on more than Momma.
4) We are more valuable than the things we do, but we still need to do for others to feel valuable. I don't love mom any less now that she can't walk than I did when she was able to help me with errands and stuff. She is still so cherished.... But she needs to be able to do things for others in order to feel that life is worth living. Mom doesn't run errands for me or elderly neighbors anymore, but her quiet prayers give us strength and she now makes things for families, friends, and even strangers.
5) Momma taught me to cook. She gave me the confidence to believe it is okay to change a recipe to suit my family better. When I started putting olive oil instead of vegetable oil in her bean salad recipe, she was cool with that. When I put canned tomato sauce instead of real tomatoes in Daddy's Hungarian Goulash recipe because my husband has diverticulitis, she gave me the nod to do what was best for us.
6) That BÓG (Polish for God) is watching me. Yes, when I was little, it sounded kind of like a threat. And I had a complex that God could see me when I was taking a bath. I was a modest little girl. But now that I am an adult I have a clearer picture that she meant watching over me, not spying on me. :-)
7) That it never hurts to watch the weather forecast so that I can plan for tomorrow, or, in the case of winter in Chicago, next week.
8) That you can never have too much Crystal Lite in the house.
9) That if a recipe didn't turn out just how I wanted it, don't admit it. Claim it is a new recipe...
10) People respond better to patience than to being chewed out.
11) Always wear a hat that covers the ears during Winter.
12) Have extra blankets in the car in Winter.
13) Keep an extra five dollars in your coat pocket in case you run into someone who needs money, but are afraid to open your purse. (My momma is the only person I know who could be suspicious of strangers and generous to them at the same time.)
14) Hot chicken soup will cure a cold.
15) Hot tea will cure almost anything else.
16) People like getting cards for Birthdays and Anniversaries.
17) Mom taught me how to read. Now that her eyesight is poor, we often listen to books on tape together.
18) Shortcuts aren't always bad, so long as they don't prevent you from learning the right way. I learned to tie my shoes with the bunny ears, not the rabbit through the hole...
19) Music from other cultures can be as exhilarating and uplifting as music from our own. Mom is Polish, Daddy was Hungarian, yet Mom would listen to Irish music, Italian music, German music, Mariachi music....lots of different music played in our kitchen.
20) To dance wherever I darn well please. For momma, that had been our own kitchen, sometimes the living room....For me, any supermarket in my area still courageous enough to play music (I found a fruit store in my area that still plays music, and I shop there a lot now! They even sell meat and groceries! Yayy!)

I'm sure that's not the end of it, but I have things to prepare for tomorrow, and Momma also taught me that I'd better make cooking and serving for Thanksgiving a priority! ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving, and God Bless You!

Today is Stacy from Louisville's Birthday

To tell the truth, I don't know Stacy well enough to choose a video for a special blog post for her, and she actually doesn't read my blog anyway. Which is fine.
Stacy is a well liked commenter on Stuff Christians Like, and up until a couple months ago updated a blog with both funny and serious anctedotes. It seems that due to her dad's illness, she is too busy for the cyberworld. But as people who have appreciated her humor, are we in the cyberworld too busy for her?

I know that Jon Acuff is shouting out Happy Birthday to her on his blog, and he is providing a link to her blog to wish her a Happy Birthday. Not that I'm a copycat or anything, but I wanted to put up a little blurb here as well.

I hope we aren't too busy to visit her blog and say Happy Birthday, and pray for her dad, her own health, and her family today.
Happy Sunday, and God Bless us, everyone!

Happy Birthday Mare!

For those of you that are not familiar with Mare, she has just recently returned from spending a year as a missionary to Africa, and is now studying at seminary. While I believe her goal is to eventually return to missionary work, I just know that wherever she goes, she will bring the love of Christ with her.

God bless you, Mare.

I chose this song for you because, besides being the song that never seemed to end, it is about making a difference, and you, my friend, inspire me to want to make a difference!




There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me



Click on the title of this post to wish Mare a Happy Birthday on her blog.

Happy Birthday Steph!

Steph is a very special member of our blogger girl team! It is thanks to her that I know why dogs wear chicken necklaces, the reason why chocolate now gives me the poops. Thanks to her introduction of Gladys to us that it is now said of Helen at Random "Helen loves Jesus, but she drinks a little...". The people in my world also owe her a debt of gratitude for my newfound appreciation of this song, because until the Goth video she posted, I liked the song, but was not all CDO over it.



(I was going to post the Chicken Dance, because of her Dog's necklace, which was the first post on her blog that I ever read, but then I thought it would be cooler to find chickens dancing to "Single Ladies". Sadly, there are no such videos on Youtube. Yet.)

Happy Birthday Steph! We love you! (Click on the title of this post to wish her a Happy Birthday on her blog!)

Lucky Me! I Scored Another Inteview With Myself!

I do believe that yesterday I promised you that I would interview myself about my birthday. I said that before checking with myself, but luckily I was in a good mood from all the attention I got yesterday, and was quite agreeable.

HRM: So tell us, how did you spend your Birthday?
Helen: Well, the first thing I did was oversleep....No wait, I went to bed at 1:00 a.m. So I guess the first thing I did on my birthday was exchange tweets with Wendy. Then I went to my mom's room to give her an opportunity to wish me a Happy Birthday. Don't worry, she wasn't asleep. Then I went to bed and overslept.
HRM: Is that how this interview is going to go? Minute by minute details ....
Helen: Hey, it could have been worse. I could have mentioned what Wendy and I were tweeting...
HRM: I have seen your tweets with her. You are correct. That would have been much worse! So, what did you do when you woke up?
Helen: Well, I spent time with my mom and my Uncle John. Uncle John was kind enough to spend my birthday with me. I love Uncle John. He's been my favorite Uncle since even before when I had other uncles...He's the best!
HRM: Do anything special with them during the day?
Helen: Just hung out. That was enough. The day before, my husband's uncle and cousin came over with flowers for me, and my dear friend from college called me in the evening. I guess you could say the excitement has been spread out...
HRM: Did you get lots of Birthday wishes?
Helen: Are you kidding? My friends in the blogosphere went all out. Peter gave bonus entries to a contest to people who'd wish me Happy Birthday, Annie found a polka of 80's songs for me, Candy found a video of supermarket salsa dancers for me, Wendy wrote a Happy Birthday post for me, Sherri started a fan club for me, Katdish posted about my birthday yesterday AND today, thus extending the excitement even longer, Becca at Homefront posted a Happy Birthday post and answered my meme, Beth wrote a poem for me, people came from their blogs to wish me a Happy Birthday on my blog, tweeted Happy Birthday, and I got cards from my family. People were so kind and made me feel so good and happy!
HRM: You are blessed to have found such a great group of people on line.
Helen: In the words of the woman who should be our Vice President but isn't, You betcha!
HRM: No politics today. We'll make arrangements to discuss that at another time if you like.
Helen: Sorry. I got carried away. The media twisted everything she said, you know. It's no wonder she wouldn't do interviews...
HRM: Another time. Relax. You know I don't twist your words. Snort. Sorry.
Helen: It's all right. We do have fun together. Don't we?
HRM: You may be odd, but at least I have eachother!
Helen: I can say that again!
HRM: Too funny! Anyway, back to your birthday. What did Bob get you?
Helen: Oh, he was very busy. He bought and ice cream cake...
HRM: Did he light it on fire?
Helen: Are you kidding? Forty candles on an ice cream cake!
HRM: Good point....
Helen: He bought me a balloon, a card, and brought home Brown's chicken with all of my favorite sides.
HRM: Well, it sounds like he was busy.
Helen: I'm still waiting for my grandma's ring to come back, and then
HRM: What?
Helen: My grandmother's ring. My mom tried to give me my grandma's ring after she died, but I thought mom should have it. I put in a cherished place, and tried for years to get mom to have it sized to her finger. A couple of years ago, I decided to accept it graciously, but wait for my fortieth birthday to have it resized and wear it.
HRM: Why fortieth?
Helen: Because it comes before fiftieth and sixtieth.
HRM: Wise girl!
Helen: No, really. At thirty nine, I was depressed that the next year would be fortieth. I had been dreading fortieth for a long time because that number seemed like the nail in the coffin of my infertility.
HRM: Go on...
Helen: My grandma was in her late sixties when I was born, yet I remember her as more fully alive when I was a child than anyone else I knew. She was so cheerful, she seemed younger than my parents in some ways. She didn't look younger, but she could listen to music or watch t.v. with me without critiquing my taste. She was a positive person and could just be there for me. She was vibrant. She had ups and downs in her life (you should right about that some time HRM), but she was vibrant. What is there to stop me from following her good example? I'm going to look at her ring, and allow myself to be inspired by her vibrancy!
HRM: Can we see the ring?
Helen: It's still at the jewelry shop, but when it is ready, I will snap a picture and post it.
HRM: Anything else to add?
Helen: Well, I had a meeting to go to for CCD teachers. They sang Happy Birthday to me.
HRM: That was nice.
Helen: Yes, it was.
HRM: So, when shall we plan our next interview.
Helen: Planning is over rated! Let's just play it by ear!
HRM: Okay dokey! What's next on your agenda today?
Helen: Tweeting this post!
HRM: It figures....

I Am Not as Tough as I Like to Pretend That I am...(Sorry)

Hi. Did I ever mention that my dad was Hungarian? I am sure that I did. I brag about it a lot. My dad was a great dad, and because of that, I proudly mention my Hungarianess (or, at least my Half Hungarianess) over and over again. Hungarians are a tough lot. We are cousins to Attila the Hun. Yep. Hungarians are not only related to Attila the Hun, but are dang proud of it. My dad had a friend whose son named his daughter Attila. Hardcore. I like to describe the ferociousness of the Hungarian temperament in terms that would make a pack of rabid wolves sound like newborn lambs. Any Hungarian out there reading this I'm sure is responding in their head with "Darn straight!".

That's why you may be shocked to find out that I have never actually been in a real fight. I was picked on as a child, and sorely tempted to wail on bullies, but I couldn't correlate that to Jesus' instruction to turn the other cheek. I worked hard at turning the other cheek. My daddy worked hard on teaching me to at least cover the other cheek as I was turning it. I don't think of myself as wimping out on those other fights. I think of myself as working on a different kind of strength. I was.

But every so often I would see a bully picking on a child much younger or smaller than themself. I didn't know how to turn the other cheek when it was someone else's cheek. I was consistently interfering on behalf of younger kids, but somehow, I never had to throw a punch. Stupid stuff usually happened. Once, someone punched me and cut their hand on the jagged zipper on my jacket. I know. That was very weird. I had refused to take my jacket off because while I wasn't refusing to fight, I was unclear as to when exactly it was okay to not turn the other cheek. I'd step in to help the smaller child without a plan.

Another time a bully tripped over my shoes and fell in the street and got hurt. Honestly, I was never agile enough to work something like that out on purpose. I can only picture my guardian angel and that of the kid being picked on stepping in.

Helen's Guardian Angel: Okay, she is in over her head again...
Little Kid's Guardian Angel: She does this a lot?
HGA: You have no idea....
LKGA: Okay, what's the plan...
HGA: You give the bully a good push, and when Helen gets startled by the sudden movement, I'll nudge her foot in front of him as he stumbles.
LKGA: Works for me....

My dad was always telling me not to get involved. He even showed me a scar he got from a bully that pulled a knife on him when he was defending another kid. His form of discouragement didn't work as it should have. I coveted a scar like that. I wanted my own merit badge of loyalty. Instead, what I got was bullies inept at actually following anything through. Which is actually a good thing, because in hindsight, I had the Hungarian temper, but not the agility, strength, and toughness. I'm actually a wuss. Shhh...don't tell anyone.

I do have a regret, though. It is a recent one. I have a friend who was being bullied. I offered verbal peacemaking skills, which were rejected, but nothing more. I did not offer to stand between my friend and the bully for a physical altercation. I offered to call, or go there in the hope of making peace. What I didn't offer was what I offered those youngsters all those years ago: I did not offer to stand as a wall between her and the bully, and accept the punishment myself. I am so ashamed. I do not deserve to even call myself a Hungarian.


On another note, planet Earth has survived yet another year with me on it. Yes. Today is my fortieth birthday. I'll blog tomorrow and let you know what I did, and how I feel about being seven years older than Jesus was when He died. I know. At thirty-three, Jesus Christ saved the whole world from sin and the fires of Hell. Here I am forty, and I've accomplished absolutely nothing!

God bless you!

Happy Birthday, Beth

Today is the Birthday of my friend Beth. She has a blog called That's Not Me Anymore.Go ahead and check her out on my blogroll.
I feel like I have always known Beth, though I met her through others from SCL. She has such a beautiful heart and is such an awesome person I can easily convince myself we go waaaayyy back...I admire how as a busy young mom, she finds time for devotions, volunteering at Church, volunteering at the youth center, blogging, and being an encouragement to her cyberfriends.
Again, I wish I could do bells and whistiles at this computer in the library, but I can't figure out Copy and Paste. So instead, I offer you a limerick, as well.

Beth was a very good friend and mother
In all Indiana I doubt there was another
to show such devotion and love
With help from God above
(at least no other I know of....)
Happy Birthday, Beth.

Happy Birthday, Sherri

Today is Sherri's birthday. She writes a lovely blog called Matter of Fact. She's on my blogroll. Check her out.

I first saw Sherri's blog through SCL. She had asked us to check out her questionaire about the election, so I did. She blogs about lots of things. I am not sure I can think of any other time she posted about politics. Whatever her posts, they are always from her heart, and she inspires me to share in my everyday life the same way I do on my blog...openly and honestly. Still working on it...

Anyways Sherri, I wish I had access to my real computer so I could copy and paste something flashy for you. You deserve the bells and the whistles...Unfortunately, the best I can do for you is a limerick.

In Southern Illinois lives a woman named Sherri
Whose obsession with shoes is quite scary
She likes her heels high
I cannot understand why
If I wore them, I'd fall over and die.
Happy Birthday, Sherri! I am sorry I can't copy and paste a neat video for you like you deserve.

Love,
Helen

Happy Birthday, Kathy at Happy at Home

Happy Birthday, Kathy.
I am sorry that I can't cut and paste on this computer here in the library. You deserve to have the flashing pictures and a zippy video, too, but the best I can do from here is a simple post saying Happy Birthday, and God Bless you. You and your heart have caused us all many smiles.

You also deserve a link, but not being able to cut and paste....Yeah, I don't know it off the top of my head, because I just click on my blogroll.

Happy Birthday. Wishing you all the best!

Happy Birthday, Katdish

Today is the birthday of a dear cyber friend, katdish. I demand that you click this button and leave her a comment wishing her a Happy Birthday. Do it!

Katdish was the second person to comment on my blog, but the first person to comment regularly. Her encouragement kept me blogging, because I was starting to feel like a crazy women who not only was talking to herself, but doing it in public. Thanks to Katdish, I am able to just go with that.

In her honor today, I am posting a song by one of her favorite groups, ZZ Top. I am posting "Jesus Has Left Chicago", even though I know that statement isn't true. (I'm in Chicago, and He happens to be residing in my heart, but anyways....)



I'm also going to post a wacky Birthday song. Because that is how I roll!



Yppah Yadhtrib!

Rhymes with July 16

Today is the birthday of one of my dear Cyber-friends. Can you guess which one...

No, not Jacklyn. I wouldn't make the clue that easy...Here is another...


That's right. Her moniker gives it away, Candace Jean July 16. God bless her...

And, just in case she is disappointed that I didn't go with the usual birthday tribute...



(Around here the unusual is the usual...)

Click on the title of this post to check out Candy's blog.

Hey Candy, did I ever mention that today is also my favorite living aunt's birthday? Did I mention it is also my only living aunt's birthday? Here's to hoping hers is happy, too...

Happy Birthday, Annie K

My friend Annie K at BuzzbyAnnie's is having a birthday today. She really rocks, and I wish her wonderful things. Go ahead and wish her a Happy Birthday. You know you want to...

And I mean it Annie...

I do want you to dance.....
So for my friend who loves all things Mexican, on your birthday and Cinco de Mayo (someone should tell me more about Mr. de Mayo), I give you....LA BAMBAAAAAAA!


For lyrics and their translation, click here.